{"id":3743,"date":"2025-02-12T16:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T00:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/?p=3743"},"modified":"2025-02-06T09:21:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T17:21:23","slug":"love-is-respect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/love-is-respect\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Teach Young Children that \u201cLove is Respect\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>To prevent dating violence, teens need to know that love isn\u2019t just about how they feel. It\u2019s also about how they\u2019re treated and how they treat others. We want them to really understand that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.loveisrespect.org\/\">love is respect<\/a><u>.<\/u>\u201d But this message doesn\u2019t have to wait until kids are teens! It\u2019s important for young children, too.<\/p>\n<h3>Here are 4 ways we can set the stage children\u2019s healthy relationships:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Support their developing sense of self.<\/strong> Let kids know they\u2019re loved and lovable just the way they are. Some kids need more support than others to feel confident in their abilities and self-worth. If yours need extra nudging, look for opportunities to notice when they try out something new, persist in a challenge, or simply experience joy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Model respect.<\/strong> In your personal relationships and casual interactions, show kids what it looks like to treat others with kindness. Thanking a store clerk for helping with your groceries, smiling at people you pass on the street, or taking out trash bins for an elderly neighbor are all ways to model kindness. If you speak respectfully of others, kids will mimic your style as they get older.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Explain consent.<\/strong> This can come up when adults greet children. Even if it frustrates your great-aunt, don\u2019t force kids to hug her! Kids need to know they can say yes to hugs, or they can say no and find other ways to greet loved ones. Maybe they can give a kind wave and say hello instead. The concept of consent can also be modeled during play. If you\u2019re engaged in highly physical play, such as tickling, you can model asking them if they want to be tickled, wait to hear an affirmative \u201cyes!\u201d and stop whenever you hear a \u201cno\u201d or \u201cstop.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong>Share your values:<\/strong> Discuss your values about a broad range of issues throughout their childhood. This sets the stage as you discuss romantic relationships later. If you read something in the news that highlights your principles, take time to talk about it. As you read with your child, notice out loud when characters in their stories are treating each other with either kindness or disrespect. It\u2019s helpful for kids to hear and know your values clearly as they observe others and eventually define their own.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Throughout childhood and adolescence, we can nurture love and respect for ourselves, each other, and our world. For more ways to connect with kids, check out ideas for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthychildren.org\/English\/ages-stages\/toddler\/fitness\/Pages\/Caution-Children-at-Play.aspx?_gl=1*1c283ix*_ga*MTgxOTEwMzkyOS4xNTkzMDMzMTEw*_ga_FD9D3XZVQQ*MTY0MzgyMzQxNC43LjAuMTY0MzgyMzQxNC4w&amp;_ga=2.266638217.663502709.1643823416-1819103929.1593033110\">play<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/how-to-walk-with-teens\/\">walking with teens<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthychildren.org\/English\/ages-stages\/preschool\/Pages\/Talking-to-Your-Young-Child-About-Sex.aspx\">talking about sex with young children.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re in a relationship that\u2019s unhealthy or unsafe, there\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehotline.org\/\">help<\/a> available when you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To prevent dating violence, teens need to know that love isn\u2019t just about how they feel. It\u2019s also about how they\u2019re treated and how they treat others. We want them to really understand that \u201clove is respect.\u201d But this message doesn\u2019t have to wait until kids are teens! It\u2019s important for young children, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[674,91],"tags":[625,624,622,583,61,209,623],"class_list":["post-3743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting","category-safety","tag-consent","tag-domestic-violence","tag-healthy-relationships","tag-national-child-abuse-prevention-month","tag-parenting","tag-positive-parenting","tag-teen-dating-violence","ages-grade-school"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1738862483:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"slide_template":[""],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_thumbnail_id":["3745"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["60"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["91"],"post_featured_author_bio":["Dr. Tricia Tayama's bio reads: &quot;It is a privilege as a pediatrician to help children grow and develop. Whether working with infants, children, or teens directly or supporting their parents and caregivers, my goal is to provide the best medical care possible to help children reach their full potential.\n\nAfter growing up in Southern California, Dr. Tayama attended Harvard for college, the University of California, San Francisco for medical school, and the University of California, Berkeley for a master\u2019s degree in public health. After graduating from medical school in 2005, she continued at the University of California, San Francisco for residency training, including a chief residency year at San Francisco General Hospital. She was able to spend ten years as a pediatrician for San Mateo County, before joining Kaiser Permanente in 2020.&quot; Dr. Tayama's biography can be found on {{My Doctor Online}}."],"post_featured_author_bio_link":["https:\/\/mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org\/ncal\/providers\/triciatayama"],"post_featured_author_image":["https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Tricia-Tayama.png"],"post_featured_author_role":["YES"],"wpfp_favorites":["93"],"bonfire_pageloader_display":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["291"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1739405924"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["love is respect"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["It\u2019s important for children to understand early that \"love is respect\" - Here's how you teach them this from the beginning."],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["77"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":[""],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3743"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4863,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743\/revisions\/4863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}